There are many ways you can fold a brochure. The fold you choose should be based on how you want to walk your audience through the material you are presenting.
The standard trifold is the most common; 6 panels and 2 folds. You begin with the cover which has to be interesting enough to get your audience to open the brochure. Once they do, now they have 2 panels of information before them. On the left is the first of what will be a continuous 3-panel spread, and the right panel, or overleaf, usually contains highlights of the rest of the brochure. The left panel is your lead into the bulk of the brochure content. Both are important. Finally you have the back cover which is sometimes used for a self-mailer. If not then it usually contains the information that your audience wants after you've sold them on your product or service such as contact information or a map to your location(s).
An extention of the trifold is the roll fold. The roll fold is just like a trifold except with more panels: 8, 10, 12, etc. It opens just like the trifold but keeps opening as the panels roll open. This format provides you with more overleaf panels and once you have it all the way unfolded leaves you with a wide spread of core information. If the brochure is big enough, this unfolded side of the brochure could be used as a poster. If you do intend on a poster, be sure that all relevent information is included on the poster side of the brochure so your audience doesn't have to take it off the wall to find a telephone number.
Similar to the roll fold is the parallel fold. You start with at least 8 panels. Used effectively, this can trump the roll fold for unveiling your content. Used haphazardly, without specific design reasons for how this type of brochure unfolds (which is most cases that I've seen) the brochure can result in a clumcy presentation of your information. Roll folds also can unfold nicely into an elongated poster. What I like most about parallel folds (and gate folds that we'll cover in Part 2) is that the presentation escalates from 1 panel (the cover), to 2 panels, to 4 panels, to 8 panels or more (the poster). This adds a crescendo effect to the design.
Tell me what your favorite brochure format is.
Next in Part 2: Gate and Accordian Folds
Next in Part 3: French Folds and Die Cuts
Next in Part 4: The eBrochure: Designing Website Navigation
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Friday, October 10, 2008
Federal Approval of Wine Labels
I've been designing wine labels since 2003. The final step in the design process is getting federal approval from the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB). Their label requirements are detailed in a handbook that covers how big to make the alcohol warning to the exact language used to define the wine.
Before the internet, label approval applications had to be done through the mail and it would take weeks, maybe more than a month. Now you can do it all online, mostly (https://www.ttbonline.gov/colasonline/). Sometimes a phone call or two may be necessary to clarify any corrections being required. And over the years, the online approval process has been streamlined and takes less than a week, barring any required revisions. The TTB staff are knowledgeable and helpful and facilitate a speedy approval.
The system works really well—most of time.
Last Friday, I submitted four labels on behalf of a winery in Illinois. The labels are identical except for the varietals: Cabernet Sauvignon, Red Table Wine, Chardonnay, and White Cabernet. The first three labels were approved over the weekend! That was a pleasant surprise and something I'd never experienced before. The White Cabernet required one correction; the varietal had to be White Cabernet Sauvignon. Just to be sure that was it, I called the TTB and spoke to one of their helpful customer services reps and confirmed the correction. I make the correction and then resubmit online under the original application and expect approval to come within 24 hours—easy.
The following day, I was shocked to receive notification that three more corrections would be required, and one of them was an issue I asked the TTB rep about specifically the day before. The other two correction were to make the wine classification and alcohol warning twice as big. By the time I received this, their east coast office was closed for the day so I left a scathing voice message explaning my frustration. Upon reflection, this may not have been smart because they may revoke their approval of the first three labels and require the revisions to those as well.
This brings us up to today and SURPRISE!! I had an email in my box this morning informing me that they reversed their decision on the fourth label and approved it. When does that ever happen?!
Snaps to the TTB Wine Team!
Before the internet, label approval applications had to be done through the mail and it would take weeks, maybe more than a month. Now you can do it all online, mostly (https://www.ttbonline.gov/colasonline/). Sometimes a phone call or two may be necessary to clarify any corrections being required. And over the years, the online approval process has been streamlined and takes less than a week, barring any required revisions. The TTB staff are knowledgeable and helpful and facilitate a speedy approval.
The system works really well—most of time.
Last Friday, I submitted four labels on behalf of a winery in Illinois. The labels are identical except for the varietals: Cabernet Sauvignon, Red Table Wine, Chardonnay, and White Cabernet. The first three labels were approved over the weekend! That was a pleasant surprise and something I'd never experienced before. The White Cabernet required one correction; the varietal had to be White Cabernet Sauvignon. Just to be sure that was it, I called the TTB and spoke to one of their helpful customer services reps and confirmed the correction. I make the correction and then resubmit online under the original application and expect approval to come within 24 hours—easy.
The following day, I was shocked to receive notification that three more corrections would be required, and one of them was an issue I asked the TTB rep about specifically the day before. The other two correction were to make the wine classification and alcohol warning twice as big. By the time I received this, their east coast office was closed for the day so I left a scathing voice message explaning my frustration. Upon reflection, this may not have been smart because they may revoke their approval of the first three labels and require the revisions to those as well.
This brings us up to today and SURPRISE!! I had an email in my box this morning informing me that they reversed their decision on the fourth label and approved it. When does that ever happen?!
Snaps to the TTB Wine Team!
Saturday, October 4, 2008
The Long Lost Art of the Album Cover
As a kid in the 1970s and initially inspired by Boston's album artwork, I thought, "Someday, I'm going to design album covers." A big 12x12-inch canvas front and back, plus maybe the sleeve, or a double album that gets you an additional 24x12-inch wall to paint on. It was big and the artwork detailed. And you had enough size for moving parts such as the wheel inside the Led Zeppelin III cover.
By the time I started my graphic design career in the late 1980s we were down to 4.75x4.75-inch CDs. You got to design more pages especially if the artist wanted a little book inside the jewel case, but a serious decrease in artistic real estate. But it still afforded a lot of design latitude.
Today we're down to a few thousand pixels an on little dinky LCD. Granted, the RGB color space provides more dazzling colors than the CMYK color space for printing, but the artwork is down to an avatar of its original self.
What will the next album artwork evolution be?
Now that more music lovers are buying individual songs rather than whole albums, is album artwork on the edge of extinction—a lost medium like frescos. Will graphic designers be employed to design cover artwork for individual songs? If so, we truly have traded quantity for quality.
By the time I started my graphic design career in the late 1980s we were down to 4.75x4.75-inch CDs. You got to design more pages especially if the artist wanted a little book inside the jewel case, but a serious decrease in artistic real estate. But it still afforded a lot of design latitude.
Today we're down to a few thousand pixels an on little dinky LCD. Granted, the RGB color space provides more dazzling colors than the CMYK color space for printing, but the artwork is down to an avatar of its original self.
What will the next album artwork evolution be?
Now that more music lovers are buying individual songs rather than whole albums, is album artwork on the edge of extinction—a lost medium like frescos. Will graphic designers be employed to design cover artwork for individual songs? If so, we truly have traded quantity for quality.
Friday, October 3, 2008
They Get It for Free, You Get Nothing
I have a client that I'm so enthusiastic about working for, I work 4 to 6 times more than what I'm paid for just because I want it to be perfect and he's an aspiring artist. Aspiring artists are usually short of cash.
Do they ever remember the high-level quality you provided despite the line, "I don't have much money, but I'll give you credit," after they've achieved success? I hope so. But in the meantime, after you've bent over backwards for them for a couple hundred dollars, they always seem to find another chump to do it for free.
I once did a First Night logo for one of America's larger city's for free because I was told (not in writing) that I would get a fair price for all the collateral material that would follow: stationery, posters, flyers, print ads, tv spots, press kits, etc. Then nada. "Sorry, but I got an intern to do it for free. So long sucker." But that was a long time ago and now it's all in writing.
And, after they get you to agree to do it for a quarter of the fair market price or less, they expect the red carpet treatment. And we roll with it. Service with a smile.
It'll all be worth it when one day one of these "clients" will be accepting their MTV Music Award and say "I couldn't have done it without such a rockin graphic designer to package me up for the masses!"
Sincerely,
Turning Blue Holding My Breath
Do they ever remember the high-level quality you provided despite the line, "I don't have much money, but I'll give you credit," after they've achieved success? I hope so. But in the meantime, after you've bent over backwards for them for a couple hundred dollars, they always seem to find another chump to do it for free.
I once did a First Night logo for one of America's larger city's for free because I was told (not in writing) that I would get a fair price for all the collateral material that would follow: stationery, posters, flyers, print ads, tv spots, press kits, etc. Then nada. "Sorry, but I got an intern to do it for free. So long sucker." But that was a long time ago and now it's all in writing.
And, after they get you to agree to do it for a quarter of the fair market price or less, they expect the red carpet treatment. And we roll with it. Service with a smile.
It'll all be worth it when one day one of these "clients" will be accepting their MTV Music Award and say "I couldn't have done it without such a rockin graphic designer to package me up for the masses!"
Sincerely,
Turning Blue Holding My Breath
Digital Infrared Photography
Since infrared film, particularly B&W, particularly Kodak's, has been discontinued many photographers are permanently converting digital SLRs into infrared cameras.
Here's a less expensive option: purchase an 87 infrared filter for less than $100.
Here's how you use it (I use a Canon 40D):
1) Set up your shot on a tripod.
2) Screw on the 87 filter. It's opaque which is why you have to set you shot up first.
3) Turn on Noise Reduction.
5) Exposures are 17 stops slower than ISO 50 infrared film so your daylight exposures start around 2 minutes, f/8, ISO 400.
4) Your shots in color will be magenta colored. I like to set my camera to black and white, plus a red filter, plus maximum contrast.
EXPERIMENT & HAVE FUN!!
Here's a less expensive option: purchase an 87 infrared filter for less than $100.
Here's how you use it (I use a Canon 40D):
1) Set up your shot on a tripod.
2) Screw on the 87 filter. It's opaque which is why you have to set you shot up first.
3) Turn on Noise Reduction.
5) Exposures are 17 stops slower than ISO 50 infrared film so your daylight exposures start around 2 minutes, f/8, ISO 400.
4) Your shots in color will be magenta colored. I like to set my camera to black and white, plus a red filter, plus maximum contrast.
EXPERIMENT & HAVE FUN!!
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